Emergency Room Technician Swam to Work After Hurricane Sandy [VIDEO]

Having your house surrounded by water because of a flood is usually a good enough reason to stay home from work, but not this time.

Marsha Hedgepeth works as a technician in an emergency room. So when Hurricane Sandy put her Toms River, New Jersey, neighborhood under 10 feet of water, she knew she had to get to her hospital so she could help those who were injured in the superstorm. Hedgepeth was scheduled for an afternoon shift the day after Sandy hit. Since she didn't have a boat in her home, the only way she could make it to work on time was to start swimming.

"I dove into water, and I couldn't see the steps I was walking down because they were covered in water," she said. "So I said the easiest way to get there is just swim until I reach the ground."

She did reach ground after about 200 yards, the equivalent of four lengths of an Olympic-size pool. When she was done with her swim she was spotted by some utility workers, who wondered if she was in need of assistance. When she told them she actually needed to get to the hospital so she could help with the injured, they drove her there.

"'Can’t' isn't in my vocabulary, so I knew I was going to make it," Hedgepeth said of the first leg of her unusual commute.